How an empty platform becomes an organization that can create its first study. Three hands touch it in turn: the platform operator, the organization's first administrator, and the person who will run the first study.
The flow
The handoffs
| # | Who | Does | Passes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Super-Admin | Provisions the organization and its first Organization Admin (Provision an organization) | The first Organization Admin, by mail |
| 2 | First Organization Admin | Opens the link, signs in with an emailed code | The setup wizard |
| 3 | Organization Admin | Chooses the roles the organization will use (Set up your organization) | The team step |
| 4 | Organization Admin | Invites the team, or skips (Invite and manage members) | The invited members |
| 5 | Organization Admin | Creates the first study and names its Project Manager (Create a study) | The Project Manager |
| 6 | Project Manager | Staffs the study team (Staff a study team) | The build team (Build and release a study) |
The gates
Only a Super-Admin can create an organization, and the organization starts with one person. There is no sign-up screen. The organization is saved first and pushed after; if the push fails it stays provisioning, nothing is lost, and Retry sync finishes it.
The wizard's steps are in order and decided once. The team step cannot be decided before the roles step, the wizard cannot be finished before both, and a decided step is not reopened. The server records where the organization is, so the wizard can be left and resumed from any device.
Roles are created all or nothing. Every role of the set is judged together; a hard error stops the whole set, and a warning needs a reason. The set can neither skip a rule nor create a role the role editor would refuse (Manage organization roles).
A member with no role cannot sign in. An invitation to a Member (no organization-wide role) is a notice without a link until a study team gives the person a role. This is by design, and why a first study needs its Project Manager to be named: naming them gives them their first access.
The Organization Admin runs no study. An administrator holds no study role and cannot be named a Project Manager, so an organization with only its administrator has nobody to name yet. The first study is therefore created only when the organization has: its roles set, a study role that can build a team, and a member who can be Project Manager.
Where this goes wrong
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| "The organization stays provisioning" | The data plane could not be reached or refused the push. Retry sync on the organization's page |
| "The first administrator never received the mail" | The mail is not sent (no worker, bounced address). The Administrators tab shows the state; Resend invitation issues a new link |
| "The link says it was replaced / already accepted / expired" | A resend replaced it, it was used, or 72 hours passed. The person can also sign in at the application's sign-in page with their address |
| "Create your first study is greyed" | The card says which of the three conditions is missing and the one fix |
| "A member invited with no role cannot sign in" | By design: give them a study role, or an organization-wide role at the door |
Do it
Provision an organization · Set up your organization · Create a study
Compliance Q&A
Yes. Each hand-off is a recorded act by a named person: the Super-Admin's provisioning on the platform ledger, the administrator's roles and invitations in the organization's trail, and the wizard's steps with the person who decided them.
Evidence: control plane org.provisioned and org.data_plane_synceddata plane org.onboarding.* and platform.tenant.provisionedsimulation of 20 Oct 2026, steps 1 to 3